Puzzle
by A girl named Cecille
Summary: Something just hasn't been right lately, but Ronon's not concerned. Then the pieces suddenly all fall together, and he's not happy about the final picture. Rated T for some language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own SGA...

**A/N:** This is not my most polished piece of work, but it is one of the first fics I ever wrote for Atlantis. There will probably be a second chapter and maybe a third. Spoilers through season 5.

* * *

Things had been a little weird since the day before. Ronon couldn't put his finger on it, and he figured he didn't have to; he wasn't the puzzle solver, someone else could figure it out.

He was in the gym training, just letting off a little steam. When things were off it felt best to be training, so he was ready should something actually happen. And if nothing happened, it still felt pretty damn good.

"Hey, Ronon." The voice from the door startled him. He turned around. "Want to grab some lunch?" asked one Rodney McKay. Ronon paused to think it over.

It wasn't exactly weird to eat lunch with McKay, he did that all the time. The team ate a lot of meals together. What was weird was McKay specifically coming down here to ask him. If McKay was going to lunch, he wasn't going to pause to invite anyone else, and if he did it was usually more of a, "oh, you're coming down this way, why don't you have lunch with us" sort of thing. So this was different.

He scrutinized McKay for a second, but the invitation seemed genuine, and he was still waiting expectantly by the door for an answer.

"Sure, sounds good." He picked up a towel and wiped his face, then threw it onto a chair nearby.

He walked to the mess hall with McKay chattering the entire way there—big surprise. Not about anything important, just some of the scientists, and what was for lunch, and the latest mission.

"Who was that new guy who came with Lorne? The short one? He was a good shot."

"Who?" Ronon didn't remember any new guy.

"That's what I just asked you. Do you expect me to know the name of every military grunt on this base? Never mind, it's not important anyway." And he went off on a rant again.

They got in line to get lunch, and Ronon noted that Sheppard and Teyla were already waiting for them at a table across the room. Teyla smiled at him over her mug of tea.

Whoever was serving the food handed McKay a bowl of almost-beef stew.

"Thanks," McKay muttered distractedly, wrinkling his nose at the sight of his lunch. Ronon was given a bowl as well. Admittedly it did look a bit gross, but he knew that it tasted pretty good.

At the end of the line, there was a big basket of fruit to choose from. McKay picked up a round green Athosian fruit. Ronon stopped in his tracks.

McKay _never_ ate those. The first time Teyla had brought them to try, McKay had pretended to enjoy it but spit it into his napkin when Teyla went to give samples to other personnel.

And then all the pieces of the puzzle just sort of fell together and Ronon suddenly understood why everything had been feeling so wrong lately.

His hand shot out and he grabbed McKay's wrist before he could put the Athosian fruit on his tray.

"Ronon?" McKay looked up at him, confusion easily read on his face.

The invitation, the "new" guy Ronon didn't remember, the way McKay had thanked the kitchen staff, even though on a normal day he'd just take his food an leave, the scientist's unexplained sickness the day before. Ronon should have seen it earlier.

McKay did not invite people to lunch. He did not thank the kitchen staff. He did not eat the round green Athosian fruit.

There had been no new guy on the mission. It was just the marines that always came with Lorne. Marines who had been on Atlantis since the beginning. Ronon should have known sooner. He should have known yesterday when McKay had gotten sick.

Ronon tightened his grip on McKay's wrist. "Put down the fruit, McKay."

The scientist blinked at him. He didn't look scared per say, more surprised. He thought Sheppard might describe it as a "deer in the headlights" expression.

"Okay..." The scientist said slowly, opening his palm and letting the fruit fall.

* * *

From across the room, Teyla and John had noticed that something was wrong. Ronon looked like he was going to hurt someone, and right now, as he was still holding his wrist, Teyla guessed that the someone would be Dr. McKay.

Teyla and John hustled across the room to see if they could calm the situation. Thankfully, Rodney did not seem to be panicking.

"Ronon, McKay do something stupid again?" John asked, going for casual, but his joking smile looked a little contorted. Teyla knew that John got rather...uncomfortable, when Dr. McKay seemed to be in danger.

Ronon didn't respond though, and Teyla looked at him more closely. The expression on his face wasn't anger. It was fear. More fear than she was used to him express while safely on Atlantis. Now Teyla was concerned, her brow scrunching.

"Ronon, what is wrong?" She asked, her voice soft yet urgent. Ronon jumped a little as if he'd just noticed she was there. His wide eyes met hers, and his nostrils flared. He appeared to recognize the understanding in her eyes. His grip seemed to become even tighter around Dr. McKay's wrist, and Rodney winced at the change, but the physicist did not say a word, probably knowing it was best to let Teyla handle it.

"Teyla. He needs to go to the infirmary."

And suddenly Teyla understood. She didn't know why, but Ronon clearly thought that Rodney's health was at risk for some reason. There was not a physical threat; he was frightened on Rodney's behalf.

John too seemed to have noticed that Ronon meant no harm to Rodney, and he stepped forward to try his hand at calming the Satedan.

He wrapped his arm around Rodney's shoulders carefully, pulling him slightly away from Ronon. The runner did not release his grip.

"Ronon, buddy, we're going to take him down to the infirmary, okay? But you have to let go of him."

Ronon looked down at his hand, seeming not to have realized that he'd been squeezing McKay's wrist. He suddenly let go, and Rodney massaged his wrist in his other hand.

"Sorry." Ronon grunted.

Sheppard took his arm away from Rodney and instead yanked his sleeve to get the still slightly stunned scientist's attention. Rodney brought his eyes to meet Sheppard's and without saying anything they both headed out of the mess.

* * *

Though Rodney had already left, Ronon could not move. Because McKay was dying, and it was going to be slow and horrible. Images of his childhood flashed through his mind. He felt his stomach clench and churn, and for a second he thought he might actually be sick right there.

Suddenly Teyla's hand was lying comfortingly on his back, though, and she was propelling him out of the hall along the same path that Sheppard and McKay had just left from.

"It is alright Ronon." The reassurance did not sit right with the Satedan. How could this possibly be alright? McKay was dying. Teyla stepped in front of him and locked her eyes with his.

"It is alright Ronon," she repeated, "Whatever you think is wrong will not be so bad. Remember that their technology is much more advanced than our own. I have seen many illnesses that I once thought deadly easily remedied here on Atlantis. Rodney will be fine."

And Ronon could see that she truly believed it. He relaxed. He'd seen miracles here before too. Heck, he wasn't a runner anymore. What could be more miraculous?

The tense posture, adopted just minutes before, fell away.

"Now let's go to the infirmary, and you can see for yourself that Rodney will be well."

"Yeah."

Ronon was glad to have Teyla around. Because he'd been so sure that Rodney was going to die, but this wasn't Sateda, Rodney wasn't his grandfather, and he most certainly would not die of second childhood.

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**A/N**: What? You say you guessed the ending before you read it? Sorry, I'm not good at subtle. The next chapter (maybe chapters?) should be up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, blah, blah, blah.

Tag to "The Shrine." Sometimes Rodney gets lost, but he doesn't like to admit it.

**A/N**: I actually wrote this in an attempt to write a fic without using any dialogue, but I also wrote it as part of a series of tags to "The Shrine." There will probably be one more tag/chapter, but it needs a little editing first.

* * *

Rodney got lost a lot. It was natural really, but for about a week after it all began he absolutely refused any guidance, because it was _humiliating, _dammit, to have to be walked to every meal, to have to be given directions to your own room.

Unfortunately no matter how humiliating he found it, and no matter how hard he tried to remember which directions he was supposed to go and where he was supposed to turn, Rodney just could not find his way around Atlantis alone.

Sometimes, if he could just stop thinking for long enough, his muscles would take over and get him to where he was supposed to go. But he was Rodney McKay, and it was very difficult for him to stop thinking.

* * *

It was one of those weird things that Ronon was just _good _at. If he was paying attention, he could always locate you. It wasn't quite the same as tracking. He didn't need to find you. He just _knew_.

When Ronon had first joined the team, Rodney had found it creepy. He could be in one of the remote labs, sure that he had told no one where he was going, and yet Ronon would find him. Usually to force him to spar or jog or otherwise train for upcoming missions, which was probably why Rodney had escaped to one of the remote labs in the first place.

However, at this point, he _may _have started to appreciate it. Because when he was lost and alone and embarrassed, Ronon would just sort of...show up. He always acted as if it was coincidence, asking every time why Rodney was out in the middle of nowhere. Even though they both knew why. And McKay would just walk beside Ronon, talking and grumbling and complaining, and then they'd somehow be wherever he had been trying to go.

He never even had to admit that he'd been lost, and he _certainly_ didn't see why he would acknowledge that Ronon had basically become his own personal—if somewhat unique—form of GPS.

Rodney would never even consider mentioning it, but it was oddly not-so-embarrassing this way.

However, Rodney talked on automatic sometimes, and late one night, when he had finished work and got a little off track trying to find his way to his quarters, Ronon had found him again, and again they'd taken a walk to his room, and as Rodney had turned towards the door, instead of saying 'goodnight' as he had in previous instances, his sleep-deprived mind had instead provided the words 'thank you.'

Realizing what he had said, what he had just admitted to, Rodney's eyes had bulged, and he looked rather unsettled as he'd scrambled to get in his room and shut the door, hoping that Ronon just wouldn't process what he had said.

So, over the next few days, if members of his team and staff randomly started showing up wherever he was to escort him wherever he was going...well, Rodney would just assume it was unrelated...and maybe it wasn't so humiliating after all.

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**A/N**: Thanks for Reading! :)


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